


Unconventional Friend-Making

by Goatsandmemes



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward, Cinnamon bun! Papyrus, Cutesy, F/F, F/M, Flowey-pot, Gender-neutral! Reader, Generally light hearted and happy, Humor, M/M, Most of the time, Other, Selectively Mute Frisk, Small!reader (because that's something I need in my life), There may be Soriel if you squint, slow-ish burn I guess, super fluffy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-04 19:36:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6672883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goatsandmemes/pseuds/Goatsandmemes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your first impression on someone tends to be either painfully awkward or outright uncomfortable. Some people don't seem to mind, though. Especially this one guy! Every time you meet him you embarrass yourself all over again...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. After 2:00AM

You’ve been told in the past that nothing good can happen after 2:00am, but as a stressed college student, you liked to test your limits. You accepted long ago that no matter what you told yourself you would still leave everything on your to-do list until the last minute, and with that acceptance you beared the task of ‘living on the edge’, accomplished by finding different ways to make up for your serious procrastination problem. As of this moment, you have concluded that staying awake all weekend in order to do some last minute studying before an important test sounds fine! Until, of course, it’s 2:30AM on the day of the test and you’re still not quite sure what the book you were reading is actually about.

Rather than catching up on some sleep and waking up to cram your head with information early in the morning, you instead decided to grab a cup of liquid energy from the first open coffee shop you could find. Why one would be open at this time was beyond you, but hey, you weren’t complaining. Even in the dead of night it was a cozy little shop, and maybe if you weren’t nearly asleep where you stood you would’ve marveled at the art which lined the walls or the different cakes and desserts on display. No, you were on a mission, which was to be freshly caffeinated. You relayed your order to the barista, a tall, lanky skeleton monster who seemed way too happy with his job, and settled for sitting at a two-person table as you waited. 

Just as your eyes were slowly drifting shut, the skeleton’s voice snapped you back to attention. “A SMALL CUP OF COFFEE FOR A SMALL HUMAN FRIEND!” The corners of your lips twitched upwards at the ‘small’ comment, briefly considering some sort of comeback but quickly gave up the train of thought. You mumbled a quick thanks as you took the warm cup, wanting to say something more but nothing quite coming to mind. 

“You… Is it normal to get customers at this time?” You lamely asked, half-lidded eyes focusing on your hands. 

“WELL, NO. BUT THAT JUST MAKES EVERY VISIT I GET EVEN MORE SPECIAL!” You smiled at his answer, even if the volume of his voice made you flinch back a bit. You fiddled with the plastic lid of your hot drink, trying to take it off without sending the whole thing flying. 

“That’s nice,” you hummed. You were about to wish him a nice night until you succeeded in taking off the lid, achieved by having the cup drop and spill the contents down the front of your shirt and in a puddle at your feet. 

A few painfully slow moments passed where your drowsy mind processed what had happened, the kind skeleton person not moving an inch, waiting for you to react. 

“...Human, Are You Alright?” He hesitantly asked, his voice slightly lower than it’s previous volume. Your head buzzed with different thoughts each second, trying to comprehend what had happened in your sleep-deprived state. You knelt down and began to pick up the now empty coffee cup when at that moment, the anxiety that had been building up over the weekend hit you like a ball of concentrated stress. You held the cup in both hands, staring at it as if it would solve your problems, and began to sob in the middle of the coffee shop. 

The skeleton, who had been nothing but kind to you and really didn't deserve to have to deal with a mental breakdown upon first meeting, bless his soul, came around from the counter and knelt beside your shuddering form. Not to mention that to him it must’ve looked like you were mourning the death of the bitter drink you had bought. With a swift movement he easily lifted up your small self, bringing you over to a table near the back of the building. He sat across from you, holding your hands in his. You felt embarrassed by your sudden outburst, but didn’t retract your hands when he had started tracing a slow, soothing shape across your palm. Your briefly wondered if he calmed down stressed students after midnight often, or if he was just a natural at it. 

At one point he had begun shushing you, because holy shoot were you crying like a baby whose candy was just stolen. Once your sobs slowed down and your mind cleared up you found yourself babbling apologies. 

"I'm so sorry! I'm... Really sorry. I don't think you get paid enough to deal with people who come in and start crying? I just... I haven't slept since.. Thursday night, and I'm-... Really tired. Super tired." You took a deep breath. "I haven't even finished the book I'm writing a test on tomorrow, it really doesn't make sense to me! And I just used the last of my pocket change to buy coffee of all the thing me I could've bought.., but no, a cup of coffee which I just dropped on the ground is good too I guess! And I... Really don't know." Another deep breath. "I'm just freaking out right now, really."

This guy was a saint, casually nodding along to your unfiltered rambling. You shamefully stared at your feet, embarrassed of your outburst, while pondered what had you had been going on about(or what he could understand from it). You noticed your tears come to a steady stop, pulling your hand away so that you wipe the still wet ones from the corners of your eyes. 

"WELL, I COULD GET YOU A NEW CUP OF COFFEE. FREE OF CHARGE. I'M A PRETTY COOL DUDE IN THAT WAY." You looked up at him, marvelling at the genuine kindness he was showing you. If it were literally anyone else working at this time in the morning you would surely be kicked out of the shop by now. "BUT, I REALLY THINK YOU SHOULD GO HOME AND GET SOME REST. IT'S NOT GOOD FOR YOU TO STAY AWAKE LIKE THAT. AS WORRIED AS YOU ARE FOR YOUR TEST, IT SEEMS LIKE YOU'RE ASKING TO DO POORLY ON IT BY NOW." That comment made him sound like a mother hen kind of person, although what he was saying was really only common sense. You smiled, pushing some of your hair out of your face. 

"I don't even like coffee," you admitted with a sigh. He furrowed his.. Eyebrow bones(??) at you, but didn't question it. "You're right, I should probably get to bed." You stood up, bringing your sticky cup with you and tossing it in the trash bin. A pang of guilt rang down your spine at the mess of coffee you caused on the floor, but the most you could offer(other than to clean it, which didn't cross your mind) was an apologetic smile as you went through the door. "Thanks for everything!" He bid you goodbye, giving you an enthusiastic wave, and your smile fell from your face. 

Your pride, which was scarce yet still remained, would never let you show your face near the shop again. 

 

By a shocking turn of events, your book was easier to understand when your brain wasn’t struggling to keep you conscious. 

You decided to blissfully ignore any afterthoughts of exactly how well you may or may not have BSed your test. 

Now, after a much-needed nap, you were dressed in your best lazy-day outfit(which could probably double as pyjamas) and ready to go see a movie with some new friends you had met recently. 

Your acquaintanceship with Alphys, an absolutely adorable lizard-like monster, started a few months ago when you had promptly invited yourself into a conversation about anime you had overheard. It was a quick meeting, as you were both waiting in line at a bank, but you managed to at least exchange numbers. Originally you ‘played it cool’, via not completely breaking out your list of nerdy references, although your attempts were futile once the realization of why you had both taken money out of the bank dawned on you. 

The next day. At an anime convention. Both dressed as the same character. 

It was a friendship truly meant to be. 

While at first anime worked as the only conversation starter between the two of you, eventually you found yourselves delving into more and more different topics. You learnt that she was basically a genius when it came to most science-y things, which was moderately intimidating but still very cool! She learnt that you were currently a college student.

She asked what you’re planning on doing. You shrugged. 

You also met her girlfriend! Undyne, a fish-esque kind of monster who’s built like a tank. A very pretty tank. She has a particularly strong spirit and you quickly learnt that she was also highly competitive. You enjoyed challenging her when you got the chance, although it was normal for you to get destroyed every time. 

Back to your outing, you finished the short tread from your apartment complex to a small movie theatre in town, where you had decided to meet up. Instantly you spotted Undyne in her seven-ish feet of glory, Alphys by her side as expected. You waved as you trotted to where they stood, them quickly noticing you and flashing smiles. Undyne looked as if she really wanted to say something, but was holding back. 

“H-hey!” Alphys gave you a small wave as you came to stand by them. “Glad you could make it! Y-you were running a bit late, s-so we went ahead and b-bought you a ticket…”

“Oh yikes. You didn't need to do that, but thanks! I can pay you back now, if you want.” You reached for your wallet, grabbing the cash you put aside earlier. “I was prepared to pay for myself, anyways..”

“O-oh no, it’s f-fine! Plus, w-we may have switched the movie we chose t-to see…” You stared at her in confusion before nonchalantly shrugging your shoulders. 

“Alright, that's cool, I guess?” You skeptically put your wallet away, observing their reactions with suspicion. “What are we going to see?” 

Undyne sounded a bit like she was choking, making you wonder if she was holding her breath this whole time. “Unimportant!” She gasped out, “What’s more important, is you sharing with us how you met Papyrus.” You scrunched your nose in thought. 

“...Your friend you said was also coming here today? I have no idea what you're talking about.”

At this time, Alphys joined in on whatever it was you weren’t understanding, avoiding your gaze and covering what you assumed was a giggle with a cough. 

“Oh, but I think you do. Y’see, we were thinking you may have bumped into him last night?” Oh? 

Undyne was trying to maintain a straight face, but every other moment the corners of her mouth with twitch into a devious grin. They both looked at you expectantly, eyes unblinking. 

Oh. 

Your eyes widened in sudden realization. You opened your mouth to spout some sort of explanation or line of defence when both girls had burst into hysteric, Alphys covering her mouth while Undyne used a wall for support. 

“It was you. It was totally you he was talking about.” Real tears were leaking from her eyes. “We- we were joking to each other like- hey. That sounds like something you would probably do.” She was wheezing. Alphys wasn't much better. “And you did. This- this is the best thing ever. You’re a total weeb, please, never change.” 

You crossed your arms over your chest, lips pressed into a thin line while you waited for their laughter to die down. Soon enough their chuckles began to fade to giggles, then to nothing. 

“Okay, okay, I'm done. We’re done.” You narrowed your eyes at the deceitful fish lady. She looked as if she could break out into laughter all over again. “Don’t give me that look. You're a crying mess when you’re tired and it’s great.”

You chewed your bottom lip in thought. “So now I'm going to see this person on some sort of regular basis since he’s friends with both of you, but he’ll probably think of me as ‘that kid who spilt coffee in a shop at two a.m and proceeded to cry like a baby’.” You contemplated what you said when your face flushed with another realization. “-’and didn't even offer to help clean up’.”

Undyne snorted. 

Alphys gave you a gentle smile, looking guilty for laughing once she saw your obvious embarrassment. “Papyrus is a r-really nice guy, he w-won’t judge you for something like that.” Her words were reassuring to hear, although you still felt nervous to meet this ‘Papyrus’. Would you both pretend this was your first meeting, or would it be the first thing he mentioned? Different possibilities continued to cross your mind. “I really th-think you’ll get along really well!”

All of a sudden, a certain someone caught Undyne’s eye, her making a show to call them over. “HEY PAPYRUS!”

Speak of the devil…

Well, not devil. More like the opposite. He looked like a puppy who deserves to forever be happy because of his pureness. Or if we’re just using dog analogies, a big grown-up dog who thinks he’s a small lap dog who can come cuddle up and get cosy with anyone/everyone. 

You’ve been told that you sometimes act like a small dog who thinks they’re a wolf, but that’s not really relevant. 

“HELLO UNDYNE, ALPHYS! I APOLOGIZE FOR MY TARDINESS, I WAS CAUGHT UP WITH…” He let out a gasp once his gaze drifted to where you stood. While on the inside you were making yourself as small as possible, on the outside you stared wide-eyed at him before blinking back to reality and offering a hesitant smile. “SMALL HUMAN!” Your eye twitched. “YOU LOOK MUCH BETTER THAN LAST NIGHT! OR WOULD IT BE THIS MORNING..” He pondered it for a split second. 

“Thanks, I guess?” You felt small under his gaze, although part of yourself told you not to be. You briefly registered Alphys whispering something up to Undyne, but regarded it as none of your beeswax. “I did get a good sleep. And a nap. It was pretty great.” While felt like a ball of awkward conversation partner, Papyrus looked genuinely happy to hear it. 

He opened his mouth(as best as a skeleton could) to reply, but was instantly cut off by Undyne. 

“Hey punks, we gotta go find our seats,” she called, and so you followed. You noticed that she grabbed Alphys’s hand as they began to walk, which made you squeal a bit on the inside. 

 

Which reminded you;

“Wait, what are we seeing again?” You looked up at Papyrus, who simply shrugged. You looked forward in time to see the two love-birds in front of you share a look of nonverbal communication before continuing to stare ahead. 

“You’ll like it!” You bit your cheek, narrowing your eyes at the avoided question. 

Inside the theatre was already dark, playing what was probably the last of the trailers. Most of the seats were unsurprisingly taken by now, and not by the crowd you would expect at an indulgent rom-com like you originally planned to see. You took the first four consecutive seats to be seen, which happened to be fairly close to the front. You say in the aisle seat with Papyrus to your right, followed by Alphys, then Undyne. 

You were thankful of your close up seats when you noticed the individuals seated behind Papyrus and Undyne respectively were struggling to adjust their positions and see past them. It made you feel conscious of the fact that your toes just barely grazed the floor. 

The movie was ten minutes in and not at all interesting. You were having trouble following the plot, but as far as you could tell, it was documenting the life of a family moving into a new home. You weighed the possibility of it being a poorly made horror movie that your friends chose as a joke, but quickly trashed that idea. Neither of them particularly liked horror movies, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to select one. 

Right? Right. 

Plus Papyrus, who looked so happy just to be sitting in a dark room with a bunch of strangers(not that you were staring at him; that would be weird), who couldn't possibly agree to watch a spooky movie. 

Well, he said he didn't know what movie was playing, but who would want to scare such a precious innocent person? 

It was definitely a slow-escalating plot. You didn't even know what it was escalating up to. Another ten minutes passed, a small child was alone in her room. There was a music box playing a song, although it sounded off key. The child sat against her bed, holding and observing the wooden box closely. The camera panned around the bed, and instinctively you leaned forward as though it would help you see around the metal bed frame. 

Just as the music came to a stop, and rotten humanoid hand snatched the child’s arm from under the bed. 

You should’ve been expecting a jumpscare, really. It was bad. 

..But you were still scared. 

Scared enough to grab the closest object to yourself and hide your face in it. Which, by chance, happened to be a certain skeleton. Which made this the second time in the span of 24 hours that he had to calm you down. You heard fishy laughter to the right. 

You were quite the charmer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will most likely go back in the future and re-read everything ten times over to make sure it's good and makes sense and is as free from mistakes as possible, but for now, I would appreciate it if you told me if there's a sentence or anything that is confusing, worded weirdly or just doesn't make sense. Thank you!!


	2. Cat-Day Afternoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If no one saw it, it didn't happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT MAY 7th: I'll be out of the country on a house hunting trip until next Saturday, and I will still be writing, but I don't know what the wifi situation is going to be like in the hotel. So if I don't update this week, expect a double update for next week!  
> -  
> So I work on chapters for this story at night, which is terrible because I'm tired and sometimes write things that don't make sense or are just worded super weirdly. That is precisely why I plan to edit probably every chapter in the future! But for now, please just tell me if there's a sentence that is odd or doesn't make sense. Or if there's a grammatical error that bugs you. You also have full permission to hit me if it's really bad.

After the movie, where you promptly refused to let go of Papyrus(he didn't seem to mind, which was good), you had exchanged numbers with him! Which is precisely when you realized you never told him your name. 

He texted you many things throughout the day, ranging from photos of a cool outfit(he has an interesting fashion sense, a lot of stuff you would never be able to pull off), random questions about yourself, and even just some cute and silly emoticons. While you tried to reply to every single message, there were a few instances where you were left speechless. Feeling guilty for not sending anything in return, you turned on ‘read receipts’ so that he would know you saw it and aren’t dead. 

Which itself is a sign of taking a friendship seriously. 

The movie was nearly a week ago. It was now Saturday, the day you would usually be holing up inside your room and ignoring any social interaction, if only because you didn’t want to risk accidentally having to hang out with someone. 

This particular Saturday, however, was different. Different in the sense that you were outside, which was a miracle. Your grandmother, who you think discretely likes to spoil you, gave you the task of walking her cat around the park for an hour or two. With a cash reward. 

“Please,” she said, “My legs just can’t take it anymore,” she justified as she walked around her two story house while doing various chores. 

You shrugged. “Sign me the heck up.”

So here you were, moseying along the sidewalk path through the park, the sun smiling at you, leaves and trees waving at you as the wind blew. All while your grandma's fluffy cat, Oscar, trotted by your side. A swift buzz resounded next to your ear which made you jump, inhaling sharply. You looked side to side, expecting a wasp ready to sting you. There was nothing. Coughing into your hand, you brushed yourself off and kept walking as if nothing had happened. As long as no one saw it, nothing had happened. 

The first half hour of your short trip was uneventful. You nearly got hit by a frisbee. You sat down for a bit with Oscar on your lap, you fiddling with a piece of his harness. You wanted to loosen it up for him, the poor cat looking like he was suffocating, although you ended up breaking the clip which attached the whole thing. The furball dug his claws into your leg, not enjoying the treatment he was getting. In a spur of panic, you attached the leash to his collar and threw him off of your lap. 

Damn ungrateful cat. 

The calico looked like he was having the worst day of his life. You pet him, he stared at you. You tried to walk forward, he laid down. You gave him a treat, which he by no means deserved but got anyways, then he sneezed on your hand. 

From inside a pocket on your sweater, you felt your phone vibrate for your attention. Their was a pang of excitement in your chest, thinking ‘hey, maybe this is the end of our two hours of being lightly toasted by the sun’. Never mind the fact that it hasn’t been an hour yet. 

In hindsight, is it actually a thing to take cats out for walks? You’ve never seen someone walking a cat in a harness, although you probably weren’t the best judge of things that go on outside. 

You pulled over to a nearby tree, leaning against it as you fished your phone from out of your pocket. Of course, you stopping had activated the overdrive setting in Oscar, him trying to scramble away from you. You jut out your bottom lip in a pout, staring at your unpleasant friend. 

“Gee, I'm not that bad to spend time with.” You wondered if it was normal to talk to animals as if they could understand you. You quickly discarded that question, obviously any good pet owner would talk to their friend. It would be rude not too. “...At least I like to believe so.”

He didn’t cease his escape plan, and so you let him struggle. You instead continued what you had been doing in the first place, and opened your phone to see what it had been yelling at you about. 

(The Great)Papyrus: 12:07 pm  
SMALL HUMAN!

You snorted. That had apparently been adapted as your nickname during the time when you neglected to tell Papyrus your real name. While a part of you wanted to say, hey, look at all of these kids who are smaller than me and therefore more worthy of that nickname, you instead settled for a smile. 

(The Great)Papyrus: 12:07 pm  
I, AS THE INCREDIBLY ACTIVE PAPYRUS, AM GOING FOR A SWIFT JOG AROUND THE PERIMETERS OF THE PARK. WOULD YOU CARE TO JOIN? :-D

Attached to the message was a selfie of, you guessed it, Papyrus, wearing what you would describe as a pretty sick workout outfit. 

(At first you meant that ironically, but as you thought about it, it actually really suited him. More than some pink sweat bands and a lime green crop top would suit anyone else you knew. So yeah, pretty sick.)

You: (n/a)  
ew running no gross. 

You erased that. 

You: 12:10:  
Sorry, I’m kind of busy right now. I appreciate the offer thou. Maybe some other time?? 

To be safe, you sent a smiling emoticon afterwards. Adjusting the rough fabric of the leash wrapped around your hand, you verify noticed that Oscar had stopped fighting his collar. 

(The Great)Papyrus: 12:10:  
ALRIGHTY!!

You were sure that one day his positive attitude would either rub off on you or kill you. Both seem plausible. 

Wanting to take a break from fighting your charge, you opted to continue leaning on the tree you had chosen earlier. Oscar wasn't making a hassle from what you could tell, he had wrapped the leash around the wooden trunk as much as he could and was now hidden from your view. He wasn't resisting your authority, and so you let him do his thing. It wouldn't have surprised you if he just didn't want to be seen with you. 

Five minutes pass with you messing with your phone, checking your messages(there was one from your mom) and briefly scrolling through a blogging app. Nothing caught your eye. Quickly subjected to boredom, you decided to continue your saunter with the pushy feline you’ve acquired. Wrapping the leash more firmly around your hand, your heart skipped a beat when you felt zero resistance on the opposing end. 

Oh, fiddlesticks. 

You scrambled around the tree to confirm your suspicions. No cat. You wanted to cry out in dismay. You did, a little bit. You pictured more of a dramatic cry of ‘no!’ whilst falling to your knees and staring up at the raining sky. In reality you let out an aggravated groan, cradling your face in your hands while rubbing your temples. You stayed like that for several moments, not knowing where to start when it came to finding a cat who certainly did not want to be found. 

Suddenly, there was a call from the heavens above. That call was a meow. It was actually coming from the tree. 

You looked up, glancing through your fingers. You observed each branch until you saw the call that has answered your cry. On on of the lowest branches, staring down at you in what looked like disgust, was a frazzled Oscar. 

You sighed. Dumb cat. 

You weighed your options. You didn’t want to call anyone for help unless as a last resort, and you didn't want to wait for the cat to come down on his own. You looked around at the other occupants of the park. None of them looked to concerned of you or your situation. 

If no one sees something, it didn’t happen. 

Which is precisely why your solution was to climb the tree. 

Mind you, the lowest branch was still pretty tall. Definitely out of your reach, for sure. You took a deep breath, your last shred of dignity washing away as you released it. You approached this obstacle the only way you knew how, which ended up with you wrapped around the tree koala-style. 

You shimmied up the rough bark an inch at a time, grabbing whatever edges and pieces stuck out as if you were on a rock climbing wall. Once you were in close proximity to the first branch you didn't hesitate to launch yourself towards. With your first hand you tried to grip the opposing side of the branch, however you weren't able to get a good grip and ended up scraping your palm on a edge which jutted out. Luckily your other arm wrapped around the glorified stick, almost desperately, but saved you from tumbling to the ground. Now being supported by both hands, you swung yourself over and onto the branch one leg at a time, facing the trunk. 

You looked at your scraped hand, seeing it was just barely bleeding. You wiped it on your leg. 

Oscar was on the branch above you, looking as if he was having a good nap. Hugging the tree like a good friend you haven't seen in long time, you shakily stood up enough to grasp the next branch. Then, you performed your leg-swinging technique once again to be face-to-face with Oscar. 

For a moment you pondered the height you currently sat at, and whether or not it would be the end of the world if you fell. You shrugged it off. You’d live. 

“Here, kitty-kitty. Come here~ Oscar, come here… No, here. Come here, cat. Cat, no.” You groaned. The long-haired floof ball stared at you, no, glared at you, nose wrinkled in distaste at your cat-calls. You glared back. The cat stood up, stretching all of his legs in the process, his chin up, and jumped to the lower branch. Then to the ground. 

“Really. What the heckie.” You got a good look of the ground below. You changed your mind. Jumping would be a certain death. You let out a cry of defeat. 

The frustrating feline was no longer in your line of sight, meaning you would surely have to look around the park for him later. Assuming he wouldn't leave the general area. 

You contemplated your options when it came to reaching ground level. Truthfully, you could've jumped and make it out alive, not without the risk of being bruised, spraining or breaking something. A lot of kids get into situations like this and get out without misplacing a hair on their head, don't they?

You reminded yourself that you’re a huge bang and jumping wouldn't be happening any time soon. Why was this a good idea again? 

Another option would be to lower yourself to the branch underneath you, and then rock climb your way back down the trunk. But the more you looked down, the longer the distance between you and the next branch seemed to grow. There was too big of a risk of you completely missing the branch for you to attempt landing on it. 

Your ultimate conclusion was to sit on the branch, one arm securely around the base of the tree, while you waited for either a boost of confidence or a kind saviour. 

You weren't a very motivated person. 

You were low key prepared to spend the rest of your life atop of the lone branch(strong branch, now that you think about it), until a call, a call more beautiful than any that could come from the demon cat you should've been watching, tore you out of your thoughts of despair. 

“SMALL HUMAN!” Ah. So this was the park Papyrus liked to jog in. Simultaneous waves of both relief and embarrassment came over you as greeted him from your perch. “WHATEVER ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?” He looked up at you, his head rightfully tilted in question. He was a few inches shorter than your post, making you wonder if he would've been able to reach Oscar, if the darn cat was still up there with you. 

“Well y’see,” you started, an unenthusiastic chuckle escaping your lips. “My grandma’s-” feline edition of Satan, “-cat decided to skedaddle out of his leash and up this tree. As you can see, I decided to join him up here.” You cleared your throat, sheepishly looking away. “He didn't like that. He jumped down no problem.” 

Papyrus did the eyebrow-less equivalent of furrowing his brows. Brow bones? You weren't quite sure. He was making an expression which showed curiosity. “SO YOU’RE STUCK?” Your eyes widened at his quick(correct) assumption. 

“What? Who said anything about being stuck?” You discretely tightened your grip on the tree. Nervous laughter racking your throat. “I'm just… Not ready to get down?” 

He stared at you for a moment before his permanent grin widened. “NYEH HEH HEH!” (Was that him laughing because that was weirdly adorable) “SILLY HUMAN! NO NEED TO FEAR, FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL HELP YOU GET DOWN FROM YOUR WOODEN PRISON!” If he was wearing a cape, it would one hundred percent be flowing dramatically in the wind. Not that there was much wind at all. He held out his arms to you, waiting for something. For what, you weren't sure. 

“Uh..” You stared at the skeleton, waiting for him to explain himself. He cleared his throat, as if he were waiting for you to do something. 

“WELL, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? JUMP!” Oh no. No no no. If he thought you would jump just like that, then he was horribly wrong. He must’ve registered your wide-eyes, mouth-agape look of disbelief, as he felt the need to reassure you before you could say anything. “I CAN ASSURE YOU, THE JUMP IS NOT AS FAR AS IT MAY LOOK.”

“Says the guy who’s, like, two feet taller than me.”

He ignored your statement. “ALSO, DO NOT BE WORRIED OF JUMPING INTO A BUNCH OF BONES. THEY ONLY HURT IF YOU’RE IN A FIGHT.” You opened your mouth to question his logic, but chose not too. There must be some sort of explanation. “PLUS, I’VE BEEN TOLD THAT I’M A RATHER COMFY SKELETON, CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF.” He finished with an exaggerated wink, making you laugh. 

“Um..” You took in Papyrus’s positive vibes and expression, knowing that he was totally confident that he could catch you. You inhaled deeply, closing your eyes. “Kay. Cool. I can do this.” 

“WOULD YOU LIKE TO HOLD MY HAND?”

You opened your eyes. “...what?” 

“MY HAND,” he waved, “LET GO OF THE TREE AND HOLD MY HAND, SO THAT WHEN YOU JUMP OFF I WILL ALREADY HAVE A GRIP ON YOU.” Wow this guy was a genius. 

“Yeah, that would make me feel a lot better.” Holy fudgesicles did he have big hands. You scrutinized them as he held your own hand, which was probably the size of his palm, firmly. 

“PUSH OFF ON THE COUNT OF THREE, OKAY?” You nodded, squeezing your eyes shut. Getting down from a tree shouldn't be this difficult. “ONE, TWO…” You took a deep breath. “THREE!” You pushed yourself off of the branch, letting out a short squeak at the sudden lack of support. For a moment feeling like you were headed straight down onto the next, before suddenly you felt yourself being pulled into Papyrus’s arms. You latched onto him as if your life depended on it, which it kind of did, to a lesser extent. “SEE? THAT WASN’T SO BAD!” He spun you around once before setting you on the ground, giving you a soft pat on the head afterwards. 

You nodded, although not completely agreeing. “Yeah..” Suddenly realization of your now-missing cat re-hit you, causing you to straighten up and forget whatever small trauma came from your most recent kerfuffle. “Say, have you seen a cat around here somewhere?” He narrowed his eyes, standing at his full height to look around. You picked up the temporarily forgotten leash. “He’s grey, white and orange. And his face looks like he ran into a wall nose-first and everything got flattened.”

All of a sudden Papyrus’s head snapped to the left. You tried to follow his gaze, not seeing what he was looking at. “IS HE… VERY GRUMPY?” You crinkled your nose in thought. 

“I mean, most of the time, yeah. Is he…” Almost instantaneously, Oscar came into view, a slightly bigger… Dog? Cat? You weren't sure. A domestic-animal-kind-of monster seemed to be chasing him, trying to be friendly and what not. Oscar was, unsurprisingly, not amused. “Gee golly there he is.” He came running in your direction, close enough for you to snatch him off the ground. The friendly monster(you’d have to learn their name) seemed disappointed, but was distracted and off chasing something else in no time. 

You held the furry creature arms length away from you, him hissing and trying to scratch what he could reach of you. You ignored his rude and uncivilized attempts, instead looking up at Papyrus. He looked worried about being at all near Oscar, but as the same time he didn’t want you to know he was intimidated by a cat. You gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, he’s not a very nice cat.” You grabbed said cat by the scruff of his neck, maneuvering his collar with one hand to attach it around him properly. “Like really, not an ounce of nice inside of him. But on another note, thanks a bunch for helping me down from there!” You laughed sheepishly, dropping Oscar on the ground and holding the leash tightly in both hands. 

“ALAS, IT WAS NOT A PROBLEM FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” He struck an oddly fitting heroic-looking pose. “HOWEVER,” he rubbed the back of his neck before looking at you, concern on his face. “YOU SHOULD REALLY ASK FOR HELP RATHER THAN PUTTING YOURSELF IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS. UNLESS YOU’RE SURE YOU CAN TAKE CARE OF IT.” 

“Heh. You sound kind of like a fortune cookie.” Your smile softened. “But thanks. I'll try.” He looked happy with your response, which made you feel lighter. 

“By the way,” you started, looking up at the skeleton. “How did you spot me up there? Weren’t you just going for a run or something?”

“WELL, YES, BUT QUITE A FEW PEOPLE WERE POINTING AT YOU AND GIGGLING AS I PASSED BY.” You could feel the colour drain from your face. “YOU WEREN’T BEING VERY QUIET WHILE YOU BECKONED YOUR CAT.” He laughed at your cluelessness, shaking his head. All of the embarrassment you felt when he first called out to you now came back. Ten fold. 

“Ah. Well. I have to take Oscar home now.” Your head was bowed in shame, although a partly amused smile graced your lips. You weren’t sure what time it really was, although Oscar didn’t seem to be enjoying the park, which is great enough an excuse as is. “Thanks again goodbye!” You waved shortly, tugging on the leash to get the cat to follow you. He did, thankfully, although reluctant. 

Papyrus didn't think anything of your sudden departure, waving back at you with glee. 

So much for you climbing a tree(for a cat that hated you) not actually happening.

**Author's Note:**

> New story! Yay! There's not much I have to say, really. Please give me feedback, and feel free to suggest ideas and such you might like to see :3 Thank you!


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